“Park near Lu.” was created when Klee was stimulated by an impression of nature that he experienced in a park near Lucerne. The picture reflects his personal condition at the time. The branches are bare and devoid of leaves, as in winter. But “Park near Lu.” is not a winter picture. There is a contrast between the hard black bar strokes that represent the branches and the bright colour tonality of the spaces between them. The work therefore includes spring and winter, death and blossoming in equal measure.
It seems to have been a specific landscape which inspired Paul Klee to paint this picture. Klee’s wife Lily traveled several times in the late 1930’s to Lucerne for health reasons and she spent time in a sanatorium. Paul Klee had visited her there, when his own physical condition permitted and strolled with her through the park around the sanatorium.

I began this monthly challenge with making the colors

Next, it was to decide how to interpret this piece of art.

What I had in-visioned was fall leaves have gone and the trees are bare. I also felt like there was a bird in the picture.

Below are some samples in the beginning stages of what would later be necklaces, earrings, and more.

These pendants are still on the drawing table as to How I am going to finish them.

I made a mold from a vintage piece of brass and then made a mold in polymer of each color.

I want to highlight the details of the stampings and still working on which technique I will use for them.

They will be a single pendant

I also used some mica powders and stensil to make patterns on another set of beads with organic shapes.

I made a necklace that resembled the trees and branches of the park and then added birds to give the necklace a little whimsy. I then took the scrap clay and made focal beads . So to continue the bird look I added my cute little bead birds with laves all made with the original color blends I made to match the Art.. I just love how they all work together with the necklace and carry the same theme of the birds and trees. I love doing these challenges with colors and it really stretches my creativity.

My bird focal pendants are being sold as just a pendant. Allowing the new owner of the birds make a necklace in their own style.

Thank you for visiting and reading about my creative process for challenges. I am entering challenges monthly now and loving every moment. So back each month or sooner to see what is going on with the Howling Dog. I am going to attempt making a blog entry each week to keep things up to date and fresh.

My love for rocks began as a child while camping with my family. My dad would take me to the creek beds to look for rocks. I always looked for the ones that sparkled. Mostly quartz and granite rocks. I had a Little Rock book that we would check to see what kind of rocks we found.

My dad always wanted to see what the inside of the rock looked like.. He used a rock hammer to crack open the rocks. Sometimes we would be surprised and other times it looked just like the outside of the rock.

As I got older whenever I went camping I always wantanded to look for rocks. One camping trip in Montana and Wyoming I collected several rocks of: granite, slate, quartz, some unknown rocks that were just pretty. However these were not small tiny rocks, these were if I could lift it I could take it home. The only problem is it weighed down the pickup truck and used up a lot more gas to where we rolled in on fumes when we got home.

Two years ago we took another family trip to Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming and guess what? I brought home more rocks. Only this time I bought them from a rock shop because they were glistening in the sun and so beautiful. Last summer I tried using them as jewelry displays, that didn’t work too well as the customers wanted to buy the rocks and I was trying to sell jewelry. So I have the rocks here at home and sometimes use them for photographs.

So from my love of insects and my love of rocks the jewelry line came to be “The Love Beetle Rocks!”